Calls for social welfare rise

COMBAT Poverty called on the Government yesterday to bring in a minimum 150 euro weekly social welfare payment in the next Budget.

The call came as Combat Poverty's annual report revealed that more than one in five Irish people are living below the poverty line of 150 euro a week.

Combat Poverty is the agency responsible for advising the Government on poverty policy and now they want the State to honour its commitment to this minimum social welfare payment.

"The battle against poverty is at a crossroads there is a need to ensure that tax and welfare policy is more balanced towards the less well-off," Combat Poverty director Helen Johnston warned.

Speaking at the launch of their annual report, Ms Johnston said the number of people living below the poverty line is a serious concern as it numbers remains stubbornly high.

"The State also needs to improve public services like education, healthcare, housing and public transport as well as social welfare payments," Ms Johnston said.

The Combat Poverty director also criticised the Government's latest 26% increase in accident and emergency hospital charges. "The links between poverty and ill-health are well documented," she said.

While Combat Poverty conceded the downturn in the economy poses a major challenge for the State in its bid to tackle poverty, it warned the increase in unemployment could cause difficulties.

"Households headed by an unemployed person are at most risk of poverty we would encourage the Government to introduce the minimum social welfare payment of 150 euro," Ms Johnston said.

The agency's annual report also showed that important advances were made in tackling poverty and social exclusion between 1994 and 2000 when using the consistent poverty yardstick.

This yardstick measured a person's ability to buy essential items and it showed that poverty had fallen from 15% to 6% in that period. But when the person's income alone was used, the report showed that the numbers of people living below the poverty line had risen from 16% to 22%.

The new National Anti-Poverty Strategy needs resources to continue its good work to achieve its target of reducing the level of consistent poverty to 2%, according to Combat Poverty.

Tackling poverty raises important questions about what kind of society we want, Ms Johnston said. "The issue of who benefits from the distribution of resources and opportunities impacts on poverty levels, and on creating a more inclusive or divided society."

But high quality public services like health, education and housing are more important to the poor because they are more dependant on them, Combat Poverty said.